For this article, we tested whether and to what extent young people's rates of informed voting are influenced by laws and policies that regulate the electoral system and by civic education policies. Education policies and state voting laws vary widely and are in rapid flux; their impact is important to understand. Immediately after the 2012 election, a sample of 4,483 youth was surveyed that included at least 75 respondents in each of the 50 states and national oversamples of African Americans and Latinos. Their experiences with civic education and support from their families predicted their informed political participation as young adults, but variations in the existing state policies did not matter. This may suggest that the kinds of policies that states have enacted-such as allowing early voting or requiring one course on government in high school-are not helpful but policies that promote extracurricular participation and discussion of current issues in schools could be much more effective.

Previous research has found that attending racially pluralistic high schools is associated with a reduced likelihood of future electoral and civic engagement. Analysis of a national survey of 18–24 year olds after the 2012 election confirms this finding. However, certain school and family practices and extracurricular activities appear to compensate. Discussion of controversial current issues in social studies classes diminishes the negative association between attending a racially pluralistic school and electoral engagement. School‐based discussion is particularly important for young people who attend pluralistic schools and who do not participate in political discussion at home. Opportunities to associate with peers who share common interests through issue‐oriented groups predict electoral engagement. Considering that strong arguments can be made in favor of racial diversity in schools, it is important to compensate for the lessened electoral engagement in diverse schools by creating policies and teacher preparation resources that promote high‐quality discussion of controversial issues in classrooms, and by encouraging students to participate in extracurricular groups that address political issues.

National Civic ReviewVolume 100, Issue 1 p. 42-50 Essay The public and our problems Peter Levine, Peter Levine Tufts University's Jonathan Tisch College of Citizenship and Public ServiceSearch for more papers by this author Peter Levine, Peter Levine Tufts University's Jonathan Tisch College of Citizenship and Public ServiceSearch for more papers by this author First published: 15 April 2011 https://doi.org/10.1002/ncr.20050AboutPDF ToolsExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditWechat Volume100, Issue1Spring 2011Pages 42-50 RelatedInformation

ABSTRACT Civics education in the United States often is designated as a low priority in the curriculum and is typically characterized by passive, rote learning that is centered around content and materials provided by textbook companies. Results from recent assessments of America's students suggest that the current generation possesses only a superficial knowledge of civics and is less engaged in traditional political activities. Some educators are looking beyond traditional methods of instruction and exploring how technology, computing, and gaming may be integrated with student learning, including service learning. This article describes the implementation of Legislative Aide software into high schools to support community-based research and service learning. Young people use this technological tool to role-play as aides to an imaginary local elected official in a virtual legislative office. The software guides the students in investigating real community problems and proposing real community action plans to address the problems.

Those who study and evaluate civic education programs are often reticent about their values or unsure how to defend them. Peter Levine and Ann Higgins-DAlessandro offer a range of philosophical resources for thinking about the values that society should hold and how it should try to transmit these values through civic education to future generations.

Civic engagement is associated with numerous positive outcomes to the individual actor, such as educational and social competencies, and to society, such as an active citizenry that participates in the political process and supports their communities through volunteering or political activism. In this chapter, we consider the definition of civic engagement, provide insights into trends of civic engagement over the past 30 years, disentangle the various competing theories on the development of civic engagement, and subsequently place the development of civic engagement within a development systems lens. We then use non-college-bound and non-college-attending youth as an example of the multiple factors that encourage or discourage the civic development. Although we take a life span perspective in this chapter, we focus mainly on childhood through the emerging adulthood periods, since the literature on civic engagement development in adulthood is unfortunately thin. Keywords: civic engagement; citizenship; political; volunteering; non-college-attending

Leukocytes recruited to regions of focal cerebral ischemia may contribute to tissue injury by their ability to promote inflammation. A novel group of drugs, the 21-aminosteroids, have been observed to reduce neurologic damage and vasogenic cerebral edema in animal models of stroke by inhibiting lipid peroxidation. Production of hydrogen peroxide and free radicals by leukocytes during the inflammatory response may contribute to lipid peroxidation and other consequences of free radical-mediated tissue injury. We assessed the effect of U74500A, a 21-aminosteroid, on the generation of hydrogen peroxide by and on the chemiluminescence of stimulated polymorphonuclear leukocytes and monocytes from normal humans. U74500A significantly reduced the generation of hydrogen peroxide by polymorphonuclear leukocytes (p<0.001) and monocytes (/><0.01) in a dose-dependent manner. Monocyte chemiluminescence was also significantly inhibited (/?<0.05), but polymorphonuclear leukocyte—associated chemiluminescence was unchanged. Our results indicate that U74500A can reduce the concentration of oxygen metabolites associated with stimulated human leukocytes, and this effect may explain in part how 21-aminosteroids reduce lipid peroxidation, ischemic injury, and vasogenic edema. (Stroke 1990;21:1435-1438)

BACKGROUND:Current treatment of hemophilia A, a hereditary disorder affecting approximately 1 in 10,000 males, relies on plasma-derived factor VIII concentrates. We tested the safety and efficacy of a recombinant factor VIII preparation for the treatment of this disorder.METHODS:We conducted the investigation in three stages: comparing the pharmacokinetics of plasma-derived and recombinant factor VIII, assessing the efficacy of recombinant factor VIII for home therapy, and assessing its efficacy for major surgical procedures and hemorrhage. A total of 107 subjects with hemophilia, 20 of whom had not been treated previously, enrolled in the investigation.RESULTS:The in vivo recovery and elimination half-lives of recombinant factor VIII equaled or exceeded those of plasma-derived factor VIII. Seventy-six subjects participated in a home-treatment program, using recombinant factor VIII for 69 to 807 days (median, 618); home diaries of 56 subjects treated for 5 months were analyzed. Of 540 bleeding episodes, 399 (73.9 percent) required only one treatment with recombinant factor VIII. The projected annual consumption of recombinant factor VIII was similar to that of plasma-derived factor VIII concentrate. Twenty-six subjects received recombinant factor VIII for 22 surgical procedures and 10 serious hemorrhages; hemostasis was excellent in all cases. De novo formation of inhibitors occurred in only 1 of 85 previously treated subjects. Inhibitor antibodies also developed in 6 of 21 children, 20 of whom had not previously been treated; 5 had low levels (less than or equal to 7.5 Bethesda units) despite continued treatment with recombinant factor VIII. There was no evidence of new formation of antibody to foreign proteins, and recombinant factor VIII was well tolerated.CONCLUSIONS:Recombinant factor VIII has biologic activity comparable to that of plasma factor VIII and is safe and efficacious for the treatment of hemophilia A.

Consuming substantial quantities of n-3 fatty acids reduces atherogenesis in experimental models of atherosclerosis. The mechanisms of this beneficial effect remain uncertain. Monocyte-derived tissue macrophages are associated with atherogenesis, and inhibition of monocyte inflammatory activity could, hypothetically, be helpful in preventing atherosclerosis. We observed that stimulated human monocyte and/or macrophage production of superoxide and the occurrence of monocyte chemiluminescence, two indices of monocyte inflammatory activity, were significantly reduced by the ingestion of 6 g n-3 fatty acids/d for 6 wk. This effect was associated with a reduction of stearic and arachidonic acids whereas eicosapentaenoic and docosahexaenoic acid concentrations rose significantly. These results indicate that modest dietary n-3 fatty acid supplementation can reduce stimulated human-monocyte free-radical production and may impair the capability of macrophages derived from monocytes to promote oxidation of low-density-lipoprotein cholesterol and associated cellular toxicity.